Shoe with replaceable decorative pieces

ABSTRACT

A shoe includes a vamp, a magnet unit, and a magnetically attractable decorative piece. The magnet unit is mounted on the vamp to provide a magnetic attraction force through the vamp. The magnetically attractable decorative piece has an inner surface attached to an outer surface of the vamp by the magnetic attraction force.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a shoe, more particularly to a shoe with replaceable decorative pieces.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional shoe 10 is shown to comprise a vamp 11 having a decorative piece 12 which can be either sewn, stuck, or painted on the vamp 11 for decorative or trademark-indicating purposes. However, since the decorative piece 12 is positioned securely on the vamp 11, it cannot be replaced once it has worn out or is damaged. As such, the appearance of the shoe 10 is adversely affected. Furthermore, cleaning of the shoe is difficult as dirt can accumulate at edges of the decorative piece 12.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with replaceable decorative pieces in order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present invention, a shoe comprises a vamp, a magnet unit, and a magnetically attractable decorative piece. The magnet unit is mounted on the vamp to provide a magnetic attraction force through the vamp. The magnetically attractable decorative piece has an inner surface attached to an outer surface of the vamp by the magnetic attraction force.

[0007] According to another aspect of the present invention, a shoe comprises a vamp, a magnetically attractable metal piece, and a decorative piece. The magnetically attractable metal piece is mounted on the vamp. The decorative piece includes a magnet piece at an inner surface thereof, and is attached to an outer surface of the vamp via a magnetic attraction between the magnet piece and the magnetically attractable metal piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional shoe;

[0010]FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodiment of a shoe according to the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 2A, illustrating a magnet unit mounted between lining layers of a vamp of the shoe;

[0012]FIG. 3A is an assembled schematic view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2A;

[0013]FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment taken along line C-C of FIG. 3A;

[0014]FIG. 4 is another assembled schematic view of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2A, illustrating the shoe with a different decorative piece attached thereto;

[0015]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of the shoe according to the present invention; and

[0016]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the third preferred embodiment of the shoe according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, the first preferred embodiment of a shoe 100 according to the present invention is shown to comprise a vamp 20, a plurality of magnet units 30, and a plurality of magnetically attractable decorative pieces 40. The vamp 20 is connected securely to an outsole 22 of the shoe 100, and includes two lining layers 211, 212 and an outer shell 213. One of the lining layers 211, 212 is adhesively bonded to an inner surface 2131 of the outer shell 213.

[0019] Each of the magnet units 30 is positioned between the lining layers 211, 212 of the vamp 20 to provide a magnetic attraction force through the vamp 20. The lining layers 211, 212 are stitched together to form a circular stitch line (L) around each magnet unit 30, thereby clamping each magnet unit 30 between the lining layers 211, 212 within a region bounded by the corresponding stitch line (L).

[0020] Each of the magnetically attractable decorative pieces 40, which are made of metal, has an inner surface 41 attached removably to the outer shell 213 of the vamp 20 by the magnetic attraction force, and an outer decorative surface 42 representing a figure of a letter in this embodiment.

[0021] During assembly, each magnet unit 30 is disposed between the lining layers 211, 212 of the vamp 20. The lining layers 211, 212 are stitched together, thereby clamping each magnet unit 30 within the region bounded by the corresponding stitch line (L). The decorative pieces 40 can then be attached to the outer shell 213 of the vamp 20 due to the magnetic attraction forces of the magnet units 30, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

[0022] The decorative pieces 40 of the shoe 100 can be replaced with different figures as desired by the wearer of the shoe 100 (see FIG. 4).

[0023] The second preferred embodiment of the shoe 100 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 5 to be substantially similar to the first preferred embodiment. In this embodiment, each decorative piece 40′ includes, at the inner surface 41′ thereof, an element 411′ of magnetically attractable material, such as a magnet. Similarly, the decorative pieces 40′ can be attached removably on the vamp 20 of the shoe 100 via a magnetic attraction between the magnetically attractable elements 411′ and the magnet units 30 on the vamp 20.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 6, the third preferred embodiment of the shoe 100 according to the present invention is shown to be substantially similar to the first preferred embodiment. In this embodiment, a plurality of magnetically attractable metal pieces 50 are positioned between the two lining layers of the vamp 20. The lining layers are stitched together to form a rectangular stitch line (L″) around each magnetically attractable metal piece 50, thereby clamping the latter between the lining layers within a region bounded by the corresponding stitch line (L″). The inner surface 41″ of each decorative piece 40″ includes two magnet pieces 412″. The decorative pieces 40″ are attached removably to the outer shell 213 of the vamp 20 via a magnetic attraction between the magnet pieces 412″ and the magnetically attractable metal pieces 50.

[0025] Since the decorative pieces 40, 40″, 40″ are removably attachable to the vamp 20 of the shoe 100 via magnetic attraction forces, they are easily replaced with new ones once they have worn out or are damaged, thereby maintaining the appearance of the shoe 100. Moreover, the shoe 100 of the present invention can be cleaned thoroughly by simply removing the decorative pieces 40, 40′, 40″ from the vamp 20.

[0026] While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

I claim:
 1. A shoe comprising: a vamp; a magnet unit mounted on said vamp to provide a magnetic attraction force through said vamp; and a magnetically attractable decorative piece having an inner surface to be attached to an outer surface of said vamp by said magnetic attraction force.
 2. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vamp has at least one lining and an outer shell, said magnet unit being mounted on said lining to provide said magnetic attraction force through said vamp.
 3. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said decorative piece includes a metal.
 4. The shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said decorative piece includes a magnetically attractable element at least at said inner surface of said decorative piece.
 5. The shoe as claimed in claim 2, wherein said lining includes two lining layers attached to an inner surface of said outer shell, said magnet unit being positioned between said lining layers.
 6. The shoe as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lining layers are stitched together to form a stitch line around said magnet unit, said magnet unit being clamped between said lining layers within a region bounded by said stitch line.
 7. A shoe comprising: a vamp; a magnetically attractable metal piece mounted on said vamp; and a decorative piece which includes a magnet piece at least at an inner surface of said decorative piece, said decorative piece being attachable to an outer surface of said vamp via a magnetic attraction between said magnet piece and said magnetically attractable metal piece.
 8. The shoe as claimed in claim 7, wherein said vamp includes an outer shell and two lining layers attached to an inner surface of said outer shell, said magnetically attractable metal piece being positioned between said lining layers.
 9. The shoe as claimed in claim 8, wherein said lining layers are stitched together to form a stitch line around said magnetically attractable metal piece, said magnetically attractable metal piece being clamped between said lining layers within a region bounded by said stitch line. 